Title
AN ORDINANCE related to juvenile detention; establishing requirements for the treatment of and services to juveniles in the custody of the department of adult and juvenile detention; prohibiting solitary confinement of juveniles except when necessary for safety, security or other reasons precluding use of a less restrictive measure; requiring equal treatment and services to be provided without regard to which county detention facility houses the juvenile; and requesting the executive to appoint an independent monitor or monitors to report on the treatment of and services to juveniles at each of the county's detention facilities; amending Ordinance 12432, Section 2, as amended, and K.C.C. 2.16.120 and adding a new chapter to K.C.C. Title 2.
Body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. In Washington state, the juvenile courts, a division of the superior court system, have jurisdiction over youth under the age of eighteen who are charged with committing a crime.
2. Under the Washington Youth Violence Reduction Act, juvenile court jurisdiction over youth ages sixteen and seventeen who are charged with certain offenses, is automatically declined. For those youth, the adult superior court has jurisdiction.
3. Washington state law also allows prosecutors to petition to transfer a youth to adult court at the discretion of juvenile court; this is known as a discretionary decline of jurisdiction.
4. The King County department of adult and juvenile detention operates the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, Washington, through its Kent division and the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle, Washington, through its Seattle division.
5. The King County department of adult and juvenile detention's juvenile division operates the Juvenile Detention Center, housed in the King County Youth Services Center in Seattle, Washington.
6. Most juveniles detained in King County are housed at the Juvenile Detention Center. King County houses some juveniles charged as adults in King ...
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